Fumigation being done at City Centre Sourced by the Telegraph

How many times during the lockdown have you missed shopping and eating at your fave mall in the city? The experience of touch-and-buy and dining out? With the country opening up to the new normal, malls have incorporated new rules and guidelines to ensure a smooth and safe experience right from the entry points.

Temperature checks and masks are mandatory while entering any mall. “Social distance marking is done on all operational entries. We will have thermal screening and sanitisation and frequent announcements will be made on Covid-19 safety measures,” said Ramesh Pandey, whole time director — marketing & events, Ambuja Neotia Group that owns City Centre Salt Lake and New Town, which are opening in phases. South City Mall has stopped frisking guests to minimise contact; they have installed thermal cameras for temperature checks. “We introduced this to maintain distance. When someone is passing through the thermal camera, the temperature of the person would flash on the screen that will be constantly monitored by our staff. If there is anyone who has high body temperature, we will get an alert and request the person to step aside and wait for some time because during summer when you come from the heat, the body temperature is a bit high. If the temperature of the guest cools down to normal, we will let him/her in, else not,” said Man Mohan Bagree, vice president, South City Group.

The Quest app (available on iOS and Android) lets you pre-book your visit to the mall; you can pick and reschedule slots as per your convenience Sourced by the Telegraph

Acropolis mall

• Timings: 11am to 8pm
• Some operational brands: Shoppers Stop, Puma, Marks & Spencer, Jack & Jones, Bata, Metro, Crocs, AND, BIBA.
• Eateries open: Burger King, Vaango, Drunken Monkey, KFC, Subway among others in the food court will be only open for now.
• What’s shut now: Fine dining restaurants like Chili’s, Hoppipola, Asia Kitchen, Spicery are not opening at present. Cinepolis and Timezone will remain closed.

South City Mall

• Timings: 11am to 8pm
• Some operational brands: Zara, Mango, Nautica, Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, ONLY, Forever 21, Simon Carter, Forever New, AND, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Eyecatchers, Biba, OnePlus, Apple, OPPO, Mi, LLADRO, Bata, Aldo, Charles & Keith, Nike, Adidas and Reebok.
• Eateries open: Pizza Hut, KFC, Vaango, Kaazi, Calcutta Canteen, Hakka, WOW Momo, Keventers, Cafe Coffee Day, Baskin Robbins are open. Restaurants like Chili’s, Mainland China and Cafe Mezzuna will open in a phased manner.
• What’s shut now: INOX, Timezone, Lord of The Drinks and BAARish.

Quest

• Timings: 10am to 8pm (hypermarket); 11am to 8pm (entire mall and food court); Noon to 8pm (restaurants)
• Some operational brands: All stores and kiosks.
• Eateries open: Bombay Brasserie, Serafina and cafes like Q33, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Cafeccino will be also operational.
• What’s shut now: INOX, Kool Kidz, The Irish House, Skaii Bar.

City Centre Salt Lake and New Town

• Timings: 11am to 8pm
• Some operational brands: Shoppers Stop, Hamleys, Vero Moda, ONLY, Manyavar, Adidas, Sketchers and Jack & Jones.
• Eateries open: Afraa, The Orient, Sonar Tori, Afraa Deli, Tea Junction, Haka, Orkos, Burger King, Cafe Coffee Day and Starbucks.
• What’s shut now: Multiplex and Timezone

Food court

You might not find too many shoppers inside malls now, but you will definitely find hungry foodies wondering what to eat at the food courts. The part of the mall that sees thousands of footfalls in a day and is usually always buzzing, has undergone some changes too. Reduced seating is the key for many malls. Saket explains, “Previously one table used to have a seating capacity of eight people while now four people can sit at one table. Minimum 6ft distance is being maintained between two tables. Contactless service is being ensured at Acropolis mall.”

Quest that boasts outlets like Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, Waffle Wallah and Cream & Fudge, will have social distancing markers placed on the floors in front of every F&B outlet at the food court to maintain at least 2metre distance. At South City Mall, most of the food court counters are open. “Proper table distancing and wide corridors are being maintained. The housekeeping team is cleaning and disinfecting the furniture and floors after every use. We are also exploring the new technology for QR code-based ordering system in the food court,” said Bagree.

Contactless menu is being explored at City Centre outlets and most malls have gone for cashless transactions to minimise contact.

Other safety measures

Besides regular santisation and cleaning of mall premises and surfaces throughout, some malls have taken extra safety measures too. Customers are recommended to use alternate washbasins and urinals inside the restroom to maintain at least 2metre distance at Quest. There are placards, standees and messages to spread coronavirus awareness in malls like Quest and Acropolis.

“We have introduced pedestal call buttons for elevators to avoid touching with hands. A person can press the button on the floor with their feet,” said Bagree of South City Mall. The car parking numbers at the mall are being restricted to 60 per cent and guests need to maintain parking distance too, that is, parking in alternate slots only. One-way movement in corridors to avoid criss-crossing, two steps distance and standing in a zigzag manner while riding on escalator, are the other measures at South City Mall. At 20 different locations in the mall, foot-operated sanitiser dispensing units have been strategically placed near various touch points, across all the floors, at Quest. There are isolation chambers at City Centre with basic facilities to isolate Covid-19 suspects.

Elevators being sanitised at Acropolis mall Sourced by the Telegraph

Acropolis mall encourages people to wash their hands before entering the mall. “Besides wearing masks and thermal screening being done, one has to wash their hands at the washbasin installed at the periphery of Acropolis Mall with skin-friendly liquid handwash,” said Saket Mohta, managing director, Merlin Group, developer of Acropolis mall.

Entry restrictions

Children below 10 years of age and adults above 65 years are not allowed to enter South City Mall, Acropolis and City Centre. Anyone with a body temperature above 100ºF will not be able to enter most malls, while entry at City Centre is allowed if you have a body temperature below 98.5ºF. It is advisable not to carry big bags and backpacks at malls as some of the malls are allowing only small ladies handbags.

Crowd management

Most of the malls are restricting and monitoring footfalls. Your address for luxe brands in the city, Quest mall has also upped their safety game. To implement crowd control mechanism with the help of technology and to apply mandatory social distancing norms at the mall premises, Quest Mall has a new feature for the Quest App, which allows users to pre-book their visit. The guest will also be allowed to choose a desirable date and time of their visit based on the time slots available. The user must have the Quest App on their device and should be registered with it. The app now has a ‘Pre-book your visit’ tab where they can book their slots. The guest will be required to do a self-declaration that they are fit and their visit will not pose a threat to anyone. One adult can be accompanied by maximum five people with one registration. The approval to visit the mall is entirely automated and if needed the visiting date can be rescheduled too. “The app is a simple user-friendly platform where you can book a slot for any day/time in the coming week, and there is a separate entry line for pre-booked customers, ensuring that there is no wait time for them; upon entry they scan the QR code and seamlessly enter the mall. This way, we can limit the number of people in the mall at any given time. This is our special endeavour to make our customers feel secure and safe and give them the best VIP service,” said Shivika Goenka, vice president, special projects, Quest.

“The average footfall used to be 50,000 approx on weekdays prior to lockdown and now we would restrict the entry to 10,000 (approx) at a time only,” said Man Mohan Bagree of South City Mall. Both the City Centre outlets having vast open spaces, they can allow more people. “Our malls can accommodate 5,000 people at a time because they have lots of open space. Very nicely we are managing crowds as people are coming to our malls not only for shopping but also for hanging out,” said Ramesh Pandey.

At Quest the ideal duration one can stay inside the mall is two hours and people using the app to enter the mall have a timer on their phone that would remind them about their exit time. That aside, restricted entries inside the stores is being maintained too, where customers need to wait for their turn and instructions from the store team.

“At Acropolis a minimum of 6ft distance is to be maintained between two customers. At shops, maximum five people can enter at one point of time and staff dealing with customers will wear PPE gear,” added Saket Mohta. Acropolis mall is allowing only 30 per cent of their crowd capacity at one point of time. There is a monitor for security personnel to watch and find out the total number of people inside the mall and if the number increases then the authorities will restrict further entry for that point of time. The mall has set up infrastructure that allows 80 people to enter the property in 60 seconds. Safety measures like floor marking are present at Quest, Acropolis and South City Mall.

Crowd is also being restricted inside elevators and on an average a maximum of four guests can be inside an elevator.